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DOJ files its second 2026 antisemitism lawsuit against UCLA

On May 26, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the University of California for the second time in 2026, alleging UCLA was "deliberately indifferent" to Jewish and Israeli students during pro-Palestinian encampment protests in spring 2024, in violation of Title VI. The administration had earlier sought more than $1 billion in fines against the university before a federal judge intervened, and several DOJ attorneys have resigned from the underlying investigation, telling reporters the case was "fraudulent," a "sham," and driven by pressure to "find" evidence against UCLA.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Los Angeles, California

Abuses documented

Actors

On May 26, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a Title VI lawsuit against the University of California, alleging that UCLA was "deliberately indifferent to the suffering of its Jewish and Israeli students" during pro-Palestinian encampment protests in the spring of 2024. The 53-page complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, was the department's second antisemitism-related suit against the university in 2026; an earlier February suit had focused on UCLA's treatment of its Jewish and Israeli employees. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the Civil Rights Division, said the department was calling "UCLA to account for its toleration of the equally appalling hostile educational environment against its Jewish and Israeli students." The suit seeks redress including the return of federal grants made to UCLA "during the time of UCLA's noncompliance with Title VI."

UCLA disputed the suit's central premise. Chancellor Julio Frenk told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the claim the university had been passive was "simply wrong," citing the recruitment of a campus-safety vice chancellor, the reorganization of its Civil Rights Office, the appointment of a Title VI officer, and strengthened policies — actions that came alongside the school's own newly unveiled "Initiative to Combat Antisemitism." The university had previously resolved several Title VI antisemitism complaints under the Biden administration and reached a $6.13 million settlement with Jewish groups in a private suit over the same 2024 events, a case the DOJ's new complaint cites.

The filing carries a posture distinct from routine civil-rights enforcement. The Trump administration has publicly singled out UCLA as a particular target of its campus-antisemitism campaign, having sought fines exceeding $1 billion against the public university until a federal judge ruled in November 2025 that it could not levy them. And several DOJ attorneys who worked the underlying UCLA investigation resigned en masse, telling reporters the case was "fraudulent," a "sham," and driven by pressure from above to "find" evidence to support further legal action against the university. Those documented insider concerns about the integrity of the investigation — together with the repeated, escalating legal pressure on one named institution — are what distinguish this filing from a neutral application of Title VI and place it within this archive's tracking of the use of Department of Justice enforcement power against designated targets.

Why we recorded this

The Justice Department's enforcement power is meant to serve the law and the public, not to pressure institutions that have drawn the administration's disfavor. We record this because the DOJ sued the University of California for the second time in 2026 over its handling of 2024 campus protests, after earlier seeking more than $1 billion in fines and after several department attorneys resigned from the underlying investigation, telling reporters the case was a 'sham' and that they were pressured to 'find' evidence against UCLA. When the government's own line attorneys publicly describe a case as fabricated, it signals that legal action may be driven by political aims rather than the facts.

Sources

  1. Trump administration again sues UCLA over antisemitism, alleging 'hostile educational environment' — Jewish Telegraphic Agency primary accessed May 28, 2026
  2. Justice Department Sues University of California for Antisemitic Hostile Educational Environment — U.S. Department of Justice (Office of Public Affairs) primary accessed May 28, 2026
  3. Justice Department sues UCLA again, alleging antisemitism against students — ABC7 Los Angeles secondary accessed May 28, 2026
  4. University of California sued by DOJ over UCLA antisemitism claims — FOX 11 Los Angeles secondary accessed May 28, 2026
  5. Justice Department Sues UCLA Alleging Antisemitic Educational Environment — GV Wire secondary accessed May 28, 2026

See also